Join Susan as she obsesses about cosmetic chemistry and other things (some possibly related to monkeys). Often strange, occasionally useful, and always worth a stop as a point of interest on your journey through the Intertron.

It's not too early to start making Christmas presents. Make your products with long lived oils and keep them in a cool dark place or your fridge before giving, and you'll have loads of time to see if the products morph. More on this topic tomorrow...

I love black cocoa butter, but it can be too soft for a scrub bar at times, so I thought I'd use kokum butter to balance it all out. I decided to use golden shea butter as my third butter because I've had it a while and thought I should probably use it. You can use all cocoa butter or a combination of cocoa butter and another butter for the butter amount. Don't go all mango or all shea butter as they are too soft and will fall apart when you go to use them.

Weigh all the ingredients in the heated oil phase in a heatproof container, then place into a double boiler. Heat and hold the heated oil phase at 70˚C/158˚F for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the cool down phase. Mix well, add the sugar, then glop into molds and place in the fridge or freezer. (Preferably the freezer). Allow to completely set - up to a few hours, depending on the size of the bars - remove from the freezer and unmold. Allow to come to room temperature before using, about 24 hours.

This is what it looks like with 100 grams of sugar per 100 grams of product.

You can see from the picture that things didn't go the way I wanted. So what went wrong? I regularly say that we don't waste supplies because we're learning with every mistake, and I say it here, too. I learned why I don't go over 100 grams of sugar for 100 grams of base - it won't come out of the molds and the product doesn't have the nice slick sheeny look I want from a scrub bar.

I don't multitask well, and I know it, so why did I try making the emulsified sugar scrub (the one from Tuesday) and the sugar scrub bars at the same time? Because I only have so much workshop time, and I wanted to maximize it! (Silly Susan! Play to your strengths!) I mixed up what had to go into what. I ended up putting far too much sugar into the mix - I was thinking we used 146 grams per 100 grams, like the emulsified scrub, instead of 100 grams per 100 grams! It wouldn't come otu of the molds. We had to trash the bars to get them out, and this was the result.

So what can I do here? I can figure out how much sugar I did use because I always keep loads of notes - 800 grams for 500 grams of product - and make another 300 grams of base to add to the container. I'll create a 300 gram batch of the entire base - heated oil and cool down phases - then add it to this Pyrex jug, mix well, then pour it back into the molds.

I did, however, make them pumpkin spice fragranced, so my workshop now smells like Starbucks. Is that a good thing? Yes! (Although I don't like or drink coffee, I like their London Fog tea lattes, but that's not what the workshop smells like today. If I wanted it to smell like Earl Grey, I'd be using more bergamot essential oil!)

Join me tomorrow for more fun formulating...what? I'm not sure yet. Join me to see what we might do next!

I am getting ready to start working on my Fall products. Being as you mention PUMPKIN, I would like to know What I can use to create a pumpkin fragrance. I am allergic to Fragrance Oils and Synthetic Fragrance. So I found a powdered pumpkin extract I am going to use. Thoughts?

Welcome to the blog!

Meet our new mascot!

Welcome to the blog!

Thanks for stopping by Point of Interest! Pull up a chair, grab your favourite hot beverage, and hang out for a bit. Feel free to add your comments to posts of any age to share your thoughts! It's no fun writing this blog if I don't get to hear from you, my amazing readers!

Have a question that hasn't been asked before? Feel free to write to me at sjbarclay@telus.net and ask away! Please note, I encourage you to do the tour of the blog first and check the newbie section and FAQ first. Then maybe do a search? If you're asking for help with a recipe, I need the complete recipe in percentages and your exact process. I can't help without these, and I won't be able to do a back-and-forth with you to get the information.

As for comments, please find a relevant post and write your comment there. There's no point asking for help with your lotion bar on a post about conditioners as no one will see it but you. Please find something that relates by doing a search or looking at sections like hair care, newbie links, or extracts, for example, post your comments there. It'll make it easier for other people to help you if I can't find time, too. If you post something that is very clearly not related to the post in which you're asking for help, it will go unanswered by me.

I'm not allowing anonymous comments for the time being thanks to some particularly relentless spammers. I am also moderating any comments on posts over 2 weeks old.

There are no old posts! Write your comments anywhere and I will see them, although they will be moderated before posting due to the aforementioned spammers.

Unfortunately I'm not able to offer business consultations at this time as I'm simply too busy. Thank you so much for thinking of me when you need assistance with your formulations. (I may be able to offer this in the future.)

As a note, I am not affiliated with any suppliers or manufacturers of any craft supplies of any type. If I rave about something, it's because I love the ingredient, fabric, beads, etc. not because I've been paid to say something nice! I do get free things from time to time from manufacturers and suppliers, but I make them aware that I will be brutally honest about those ingredients on the blog!

My Patreon page

If you like what I'm offering here on the blog, check out my Patreon page where you can offer a small donation or create a monthly subscription to get even more stuff from the blog, like a monthly e-zine, Q&A, and duplication recipe. The money you donate to me - not the youth programs - will go to creating more content for this blog, creating new e-books and an e-zine, and - we hope - some video content in the future.

Follow SwiftCraftyMonkey on social media!

Join me on my Facebook page for updates, random thoughts, and links to other things I think might be interesting! Or look for me on Twitter @SwiftCraftyM or Instagram as swiftcraftymonkey

My e-books

To raise money for our youth groups, I've put together these e-books! If you want to learn more about the books or donate, click on the bolded links!Or click here for a short description of all the e-books!The new e-book is here! Formulating Facial Products! This 399 page e-book is filled with recipes for facial products, including moisturizers, sera, cleansers (oil and surfactant based), scrubs, gels, and more, as well as entries for ingredients like botanical extracts, cosmeceuticals, emulsifiers, thickeners, essential oil, and more, as well as a large appendix about our oils.

Click here to see the table of contents! If you make a $28 donation to our youth programs, we'll send you a copy of this e-book along with the preservatives, oils, butters, and surfactant charts as a thank you for your kind generosity!

Formulating & Creating Lotions! This 224 page e-book is perfect for those of you familiar with lotion making and ready to start creating your own recipes! I've included all the information I know about the HLB system, as well as my base recipes for lotions, creams, body butters, and moisturizers!

Click here to see the table of contents! If you make a $26 donation to my youth programs, I'll send you a copy of this e-book, an HLB calculator in Excel format, and the carrier oil, exotic oil, butter, and preservative comparison charts.

Lotion Making 101. This 305 page book includes everything you wanted to know about the basics of making lotions, including the chemistry of our lotions, ingredients we use, keeping your lotions safe, equipment you might need, and more recipes than I could count! For those of you who don't have the Back to Basics book, I've included all the carrier oil, exotic oil, and butter profiles.

Click here to see the table of contents. If you make a $29 donation to my youth groups, I'll send you along a copy of this e-book as a thank you. I'll also send you a copy of the carrier oil, exotic oil, butter, and preservative comparison charts!

Back to Basics: Anhydrous Products. This 122 page e-book includes over 50 recipes and explanations for making lotion bars, whipped butters, balms, oil based scrubs, bath melts, bath oils, oil based sprays, solid scrubs, and facial sera, as well as all the carrier oil, exotic oil, and butter profiles and everything I've gathered about the chemistry of our oils including fatty acids, mechanisms of rancidity, phytosterols, and polyphenols.

Click to take peek at the Table of Contents. If you make a $25 donation to the groups, I'll send you a copy by e-mail as a thank you!

Click on the links above to learn more about the books. If you already know what you want or want to make a general donation, click the button below! (I'll know which e-book you want by the amount you've donated!) Thank you so much for supporting our youth groups. You have made it possible for us to continue offering our programs and we finally got that sewing machine!

I've had to remove my cell phone number due to a number of calls from people wanting to learn how to make lotion. If you are part of the groups or want more information, please email me or call Community Services at 604 792-4267 to get connected.

Who the heck is Swift?

I'm an aspiring cosmetic scientician and DIY girl interested in pretty much any craft you can name - bookbinding, jewellery making, sewing, paper crafts, polymer clay - but my main passion is bath & body product making.
I am currently obsessed with Rock Band (bass and singing) and science books. Did you know my favourite word is "toaster" and my favourite adjective is "hirsute"?